Friday, November 9, 2012

(Wash Post) Republican Party begins election review

Usually these reviews end up being useless because the people in charge of running it are the same people who caused the need for a review in the first place.

Follow the saying, Keep it simple stupid. Better vetted candidates, a complete overhaul of east and northeast state parties, immigration reform that is tough on enforcement and streamlined process to legalization. Most importantly, make the primaries tough enough to quickly weed out the losers but satisfy the majority of the voters.

BTW, Blaming the tea party is a dumb move because without them, GOP would have lose by a larger margin than they did in the election.

The review comes amid signs that the election results have pushed some conservative leaders and officials to consider tackling one of the most politically touchy issues for many Republicans: whether to put millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. For years, conservatives have blocked immigration legislation. But seeing Obama win seven in 10 Hispanic voters appears to have left some wondering whether it is time to compromise, particularly with the president pledging to make the issue a centerpiece of his second-term agenda.

The Internet was buzzing late Thursday as word spread that Fox News Channel commentator Sean Hannity declared he had “evolved” on the issue and now thinks illegal immigrants without criminal records should have a “pathway to citizenship.”

In an interview Thursday with ABC News’s Diane Sawyer, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said the immigration issue “has been around far too long.” He said a “comprehensive approach is long overdue, and I’m confident that the president, myself, others can find the common ground to take care of this issue once and for all.”

Asked about the GOP’s demographic problems, Boehner said: “What Republicans need to learn is: How do we speak to all Americans? You know, not just the people who look like us and act like us, but how do we speak to all Americans?”

Although Democrats argue that Tuesday’s results point to a potentially long-lasting winning coalition, Republicans are fighting among themselves about what went wrong.

Some party leaders have blamed the losses on the rise of the tea party movement and the growing pressure on GOP candidates to hew to a purist brand of conservatism that wins primaries but turns off voters. Others have taken the opposite view, blaming party establishment leaders and Romney for trying to play to the middle.

RNC officials say their results will help guide Republican lawmakers and governors as they tackle sensitive issues.

The committee’s move suggests that Chairman Reince Priebus, who will face reelection in January, may be trying to fill a void left by Romney’s loss and the lack of a party leader focused on political strategy.

The review began on election night with polls in key states, and next week the party will begin a string of voter focus groups.

Priebus and other party officials also will meet with constituency-group leaders representing Hispanics, African Americans, veterans, evangelicals, tea party activists, business groups, youth voters, centrists, Asian Americans and women.

Party officials plan to delve deeply into the Hispanic community, with separate focus group sessions being devoted to Puerto Ricans, a key bloc in central Florida that strongly backed Obama, as well as Mexican Americans and Cuban Americans. Mexican Americans make up the bulk of Hispanic voters in the battleground states of Colorado and Nevada.